Make Your Child a Stronger Reader

Want to help make your child a stronger reader and a better critical thinker? Learn to ask the right questions.

When your child is reading (either alone or with you), engage in discussions that will stretch their imagination and inference skills. For instance, if your child is reading Harry Potter, you could ask them the following questions:

Would you rather be a wizard or a muggle? Why?

What do you think it would feel like to see Hogwarts for the first time? Describe what you see in your mind’s eye.

If you could invent potions or spells, what would you create?

Books vs. Movies

When a book is also a movie, encourage your child to read the book first. If your child has not seen the movie, their imagination will create their own visual. Once the movie has been seen, the mind’s eye can only conjure scenes from the movie.

If your child is a reluctant reader, you can use movies as a reading incentive: “Once you’re done reading Harry Potter, we are going to have a movie marathon.” Then, ask your child questions about how the movie compared to the “movie” they had already directed in their imagination.